The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-11-10
EQUAL TREATMENT DEMANDED.

EQUAL TREATMENT DEMANDED.
All that we ask is that the Nation act to-
ward its veterans precisely as it acted toward
its bondholders We only demand that the
contribution of a mans health, strength,
perhaps life, to the salvation of his country
shall be held Of as much value as lending it
a few dollars. We want the debt due for
services and sacrifices TO be considered at
least as sacred as that for money loaned or
supplies furnished.
There can be no fault found with the Gov
ernment's treatment Of the men who loaned
il money in its time Of need. 1t did all that
the most scrupulous honor could suggest.
Undoubtedly the money lenders deserved
generous treatment They took great risks
when they loaned the Government the con-
tents of their strong-boxes. Their debtor
was in very precarious situation. Ten
million desperately rebellious people were
moving heaven and earth to destroy his life.
Shrewd business men are not eager to lend
good money 10 a man engaged in such
desperate struggle. i. may be said that they
really did not lend him money; they only
lent him his own promises TO pay, which
were then worth only 35 cents on the dollar,
or such a matter. Though his cause was
their cause, and his destruction would have
been their destruction, they drove hard,
close bargain with him, and kept all the
advantages on their side. But their debtor
did not allow any remembrance of this to
influence him when he got out of his trouble
and began settling with those who loaned
him money. He paid all the interest in
gold, and for every 35-cent promise to
pay dollar that he received he re-
turned gold dollar worth nearly
three times as much. He spurned, in o
princely, high-minded way, all suggestions
to chatter, dicker or bubble with those who
had driven hard bargains with him in his
dire need, and settled with all corners as il
accommodated him when he needed it
most Uncle Sam is gentleman" said one
prominent Senator when this matter was
under discussion, and this spirit controlled
every transaction with the money-lenders.
We ask that this same spirit shall now
control the Nation in its settlement with the
men who gave it vastly more than mere
money in its hour of need.
If Uncle Sam was too much of gentle
man to chatter and bubble with the men
who lent him money when he was in desper-
ate straits, he should be too much of gentle
man TO take advantage of technicalities and
Limitations in settling his debts TO the men
who gave what was beyond money and be-
yond price to save him from destruction.
Even though a man lent the Nation hundreds
of thousands of dollars, he did not make the
risk and sacrifice of the boy who left his
pleasant home to march to the field and en-
counter all that he encountered there before
the rebellion was finally drowned in the
blood Of the best and bravest of the land.
The men who lent money to the Govern
ment took an ordinary business risk, such
as business men are in the habit of taking
every day. Had they lost every cent of it
they would have lost nothing Of anything
like the personal importance TO them Of the |
loss TO any soldier his arm, or leg, or eyes,
or his health. No money-lender risked his |
whole fortune and his support through life |
TO aid the Government as the man did who |
stood upon the field of battle TO encounter
the enemies of the country.
The soldiers have waited with incredible |
patience until the bOndholders' demands |
were fully met Now they ask, and they |
certainly have the right to ask, that the |
Government shall be as careful and punctil- |
ious in ascertaining what is due them &C |
cording TO the letter and spirit OF their |
contract, as it was in diseharging its obliga- |
tons 10 the bondholders. They insist that |
it do this with the same honorable prompt. |
ness that it then displayed. 1t has in its |
Treasury money for which it has no other |
use sufficient TO discharge its honest |
Indebtedness TO them, and they ask that il |
daily and postpone no longer, but at once |
apply this money to the satisfaction of their |
just claims. In this demand all who fought |
for the Union, and all who sympathized with
and aided that glorious cause unite.
WHO PAY THE PENSIONS.
The total income of the United States last |
wear was S326 40 721- OF this nn,o,,,,. |